Kickstarter - Realm Explorer

May 2nd, 2012, 02:21

Today's new Kickstarter project is Realm Explorer, a sandbox, free-roaming RPG with multiplayer and Minecraft-like elements (digging, building). I'm not clear on the game content beyond roaming, digging and crafting but take a look:
[quote] Realm Explorer will be a computer game about creation in the fantasy universe of Gnostaria; your creations. In perhaps the most dynamic sandbox world yet to be conceived you will be able to dig the soil and mine ore, precious metals and gems all in a beautiful and dynamic 3D world. The terrain will shape and form to your actions. Drive a shovel into the ground and watch the earth give way. Heave your pickaxe into a cave wall and see the stone disintegrate before you; revealing the treasure beneath. Go on adventures alone or with friends via internet multiplayer and craft weapons, armor, tools and other items. How you play is up to you. The possibilities are limitless.
<ul> Generate unlimited unique worlds. Explore vast and interesting procedurally generated sandbox worlds set in the fantasy universe of Gnostaria. Play online with friends via internet multiplayer or enjoy a single player world.Built in server browser. Find other games or host your own.Persistent game worlds. Play now and come back to the same world later, just as you left it. Multiplayer games can be hosted indefinitely online for public or private worlds.Shape the terrain. Dig anywhere using shovels and pickaxes. Mine resources from natural caves, raise or demolish hills and mountains or construct tunnels.Cut down trees to clear land and collect lumber.Craft and create any item in the game. There are hundreds of weapons, armor, clothing and more. If it's in the game you can make it. Use the resources you gather to make new and better items.Unique crafting system. Use a combination of “hand tools” (e.g. hammers, scissors, saws) in your inventory and “craft stations” (e.g. forges, anvils, looms, tanning racks) to construct different items.Complete character customization. Change facial features, hair style, facial hair, skin color and more. Choose between either male or female characters.See what you wear. Armor and clothing are visually represented on your game character on a piece-by-piece basis. Mix and match armor and clothing pieces for utility or style. You can wear a different boot on each foot or a different glove on each hand. Your character will look like what you are wearing.Visible backpacks and belt pouches. Additional inventory-extending containers like backpacks, rucksacks, belt pouches and belt packs can be worn and are visually represented on your character.Expand your inventory slots. Different types of containers will give you more usable inventory space.RPG elements including character skills and character development. The more you perform actions the more your skills related to those actions increase. For a pure sandbox experience players can turn off skills and focus entirely on gathering resources and building.Drop items. Pick them up later. Items you drop on the ground appear and can be seen or taken by other players (or NPCs).Physics. Realm Explorer makes use of a physics engine for various gameplay elements.Future game modes including multiplayer co-operative “Defense” mode, where players work together to hold off waves of incoming enemies, are planned.Smash and destroy almost any item in the game.Real-time action-oriented combat mechanics. One click = one swing.Battle fierce enemies. From the common wolf or the mundane rat to incredible golems and horrifying undead.Jump between offensive and defensive stances to block and parry attacks. Perform defensive maneuvers like kicks and shield bashes.Wield hundreds of different weapons and use different weapon styles; swords, axes, maces, hammers, spears, javelins, bows, crossbows, daggers, knives, one handed weapons and giant two-handed weapons. If one weapon isn’t enough why not use two? Dual wield any two one-handed weapons for double the fun.Find and collect rare items and artifacts.
Interact with friendly and hostile NPCs.
Participate in dynamically generated quests.
Experience a breathtaking dynamic weather system and dynamic day and night syste…More information.

Other than that it sounds good. Minecraft mixed with Terraria with better graphics sounds like a win/win to me. I didn't care too much for Minecraft, but Terraria I was addicted to for months. The difference being Terraria had more RPG elements to it and Minecraft was just Legos.

Like Elhoim said, 250K is really ambitious for an unknown. They should start a hell of a lot smaller than that. 50K seems reachable maybe…..MAYBE a 100K if they get someone famous to mention them on twitter Although, one word from Notch would be all this little game needed to reach 250 or more.

Originally Posted by Dhruin
I don't really get the game bit, to be honest. There's an awful lot about digging…why do I want to dig, exactly? Do you just wander around or are their quests, NPCs, a story, factions?

Digging is all the rage, didn't you get the memo?

Seriously though I would have said exactly the same thing about Terraria before I bought it and after I bought that stupid thing I would be on the computer for hours digging shafts, building underground homes and looking for rare materials.

But you're right about the info on this game. More info would be appreciated. Having an actual game that's been finished in their portfolio would be better for their goal they're trying to reach.

I was intrigued to figure out just whether or not it could polish the Minecraft formula by adding in more RPG elements… intrigued until I saw that trailer with some characters running around and flailing about with their weapons as some purported example of gameplay.

I'll stick with Minecraft until these guys at least know how to make a proper trailer.

Yeah, no kidding. Lots of characters seen running with their swords drawn, with epic orchestral music playing. Awful "digging" animation which the character moves and the dirt disappears. "anything is possible" or something to that extent, as the character is shown in their little mud tunnel/room they just dug. Woah, exciting

If they want to get me excited, they need to show more Is possible than that. I love the minecraft formula, but I could make that trailer with a toolset and fraps!

Originally Posted by skavenhorde
Digging is all the rage, didn't you get the memo?

Seriously though I would have said exactly the same thing about Terraria before I bought it and after I bought that stupid thing I would be on the computer for hours digging shafts, building underground homes and looking for rare materials.

Yeah, I missed the memo. I like Terraria but I can't play it for long, unfortunately. At least I get it - looking for new materials etc. I didn't see any of that in this video (unless I missed it) - it looked like digging just for the sake of changing the terrain, which isn't my thing.

You guys realize that if they had a finished game to show, with amazing graphics and all the features they want to include already implemented, they wouldn't need funding at that point and would instead just release the game, right? Not that even the finished thing will rival AAA games or whatever you want out of it, not with a $250k budget and an indie studio behind it, not to mention the scope intended. Thankfully gameplay is what matters the most, especially for anything remotely resembling an RPG of the type this will apparently attempt to be. Obviously, you don't have to pledge a dime, that's your choice and right, but basically reviewing a game out of a short development video and deciding it's a shitty Minecraft clone with nothing but running and digging (despite a preliminary list of planned features being right there, copy pasted for your convenience) and therefor unworthy of attention, support, or whatever, is quite silly, to put it kindly.

With the things shown and said list of features I'm getting a "sandbox Gothic + digging" (edit: yes, Gothic itself isn't a sandbox game, hence the qualification with the key word sandbox here, smartpants) vibe out of it and, knowing a few things about development, I think they've got plenty of skill and dedication just with what they've achieved so far, so I just pledged a few bucks. Of course, more details are welcome, but they do write more than digging and running are planned, pretending otherwise is silly.

I'm not some Kickstarter nut, the only other projects I've pledged for are Wasteland 2, Shadowrun Returns and FTL, for now (yep, not even the Double Fine or Jane Jensen stuff, though I may get the games as they come). The former two because I really want games like that to be made again (they also barely had anything to show beyond the name, nevermind footage of an actually functioning, if unfinished, game world), and the latter because they've basically shown most of what the game is, and I want it. With the exception of Wasteland 2 (I pledged enough for the first boxed copy tier + shipping) I pledged some of the lowest amounts as they actually seemed like good pricing deals for the games assuming things go well enough. Which they may not, but whatever, it's a handful of bucks or so and the potential is there in my opinion, one can also just not pledge and wait and see how they will turn out instead, it's all good, no worries.

I don't think $250k is too much though, it's basically just over 15k pledgers on the $15 tier (the lowest outside those 50 early adopter specials they had going). Even FTL raised $200k after asking for just $10k. Nevermind The Banner Saga's $700k with only some artwork and a few animated sprites to show. If they can't drum up that kind of interest on the premise then it's possible the finished game would not sell enough to make it a worthwhile endeavor either. Although, yes, it's possible the finished game could gain much more interest regardless of the Kickstarter status, you never know.

TLDR; development is ongoing, they show more than other projects, but no matter what they tell you (and they do state they'll say more over time, they kinda have to leave room for updates so that news and discussion don't die down past day one) there's always a risk the finished product won't live up to it, so just decide if the risk is worth it to you but leave the reviews for the finished game, if it ever is.

Edit: what I said here goes beyond just asking for more details which is just fine, obviously, I didn't criticise that, I criticised the notion that all they've got planned is running around and digging just because that's what their first videos have, which clearly isn't the case, so spare me the innocent victim act…

Originally Posted by Al3xand3r
You don't have to pledge, but basically reviewing the game out of a trailer and deciding it's a shitty Minecraft clone with nothing but digging and therefor unworthy of attention, support, or whatever, is quite silly…

I'm not sure how else I'm supposed to "review" it, so I guess that makes me silly. Gothic is a dense, hand-crafted experience that leans heavily on questing, factions and the use of excellent world-building to make exploration enjoyable. It beats the hell out of me how you get that vibe from a randomly generated gameworld with no mention of quests (that I saw).

Originally Posted by Al3xand3r
You guys realise that if they had a finished game to show you with amazing graphics and all the features they want to include, they wouldn't need your funding at that point, right? Not that even the finished thing will rival AAA games or whatever you want out of their visuals, not with a $250k budget and an indie studio behind it at least… Thankfully gameplay is what matters the most, especially for anything remotely resembling an RPG of the type this apparently will attempt to be. You don't have to pledge, but basically reviewing the game out of a trailer and deciding it's a shitty Minecraft clone with nothing but digging and therefor unworthy of attention, support, or whatever, is quite silly…

I'm reviewing it basically on what I've seen and what they have put out. They haven't finished their last game and the trailer for this one lacks a lot of depth. At least for me it does because I am looking for more RPG. It has a great concept and if they get farther along then I would fund them, but this is no FTL trailer that shows off a lot of the game or is it coming from someone who is well known so I'm wary that they can deliver on what they say they can do.

I fully expect to totally lose my money one day on a project that doesn't materialize and I accept that. However, that doesn't mean I'm going to be stupid with who I trust to deliver on what they say they can do.

Originally Posted by Al3xand3r
You don't have to pledge, but basically reviewing the game out of a trailer and deciding it's a shitty Minecraft clone with nothing but digging and therefor unworthy of attention, support, or whatever, is quite silly…

Yes we're being harsly critical of the trailer and the lack of detail about what they mean when they say things like "rich fantasy roleplaying game" or "experience epic adventure." I'll skip explaining how this criticism is perfectly reasonable. I'll also hold off pointing out how understandable our skepticism might be given the incongruity of the broad design aspects listed when compared to the footage shown and the short descriptions given of them and in light of the recent discussions of the "Mythic" scam. What I have to take issue with is you somehow read what was said here as implying that the project itself was being deemed unworthy of attention; to some extent we're saying the complete opposite of that and without meaning a strictly negative sort of attention or scrutiny.

Expressing dissatisfaction with the ammount of detail on the kickstarter page, wishing for more gameplay footage, expressing interest in the general concept and suggesting they might do well to explain certain features better - these kind of suggest a willingness to pay attention and a desire to hear more despite simultaneously expressing doubt and concern. That's a bit nuanced but there are posts expressing a willingness to purchase and support it if they could convince them that what they are going to make is what they hope they're trying to describe it t be. That's a not-exactly-subtle hint that they plan to pay attention to this and even expresses hope that maybe they'll put something up that's more convincing and reassuring than this initial trailer and info page.

Spoiler –A rambling wall of text that's probably a bit of long-winded self-satisfying drivel now that I think about it

Originally Posted by Al3xand3r
Personally I'm getting a "sandbox Gothic + digging" vibe out of it and, knowing a few things about development,

Ok this is useful to explain one of the biggest problems I'm having in terms of understanding the game they're trying to make and deciding whether I think its something I would find very interesting, very disappointing, or where it might be in-between. When you say "sandbox Gothic" vibe based on what they have shown and described so far it makes me question whether when you say that you mean anything close to what that means to me. For me, the positive parts of a "Gothic" vibe implies the combination of some impressive non-linear quest design combined with a mix of plot-gated and fully open exploration, a detailed and entertaining if somewhat familiar high fantasy story, a world populated with characters which possess a diverse set of goals and motivations that are often at odds with each other, a setting with some sense of background and history. Seeing evidence of none of those things besides the "open exploration" component, that description not only fails to convey to me what you find so compelling about the game but it also serves to make me suspect that what you want in a game might not overlap with my preferences very much at all.

Similarly when they say something like "experience epic adventure" and show a scene of a single character running through mostly level terrain, awkwardly swinging a sword, and passing apparently static sheep objects it gives me pause. In the absence of what they mean by an epic adventure and paired with seemingly incongrous footage - which differs from previous scenes of a guy running around awkwardly swinging a sword at the air by the inclusing of static sheep objects - at best I am uncertain if we have the same idea when it comes to what one might non-ironically call an epic adventure.

When, in the description below the video, they say you will experience rich fantasy roleplaying they follow it up by stating there will be mining, crafting, digging, skills you can increase, and varying types/levels of monsters. A rich fantasy roleplaying experience sounds like a pretty big positive to me as far as somewhat general/vague idea goes. Unfortunately the tidbits that follow it make question whether what I think of as "rich fantasy roleplaying" and what they mean by it might be so different as to render the phrase meaningless in describing the game to me. If skills you can increase and monsters of varying difficulty/level constitute the difference between crafting-sandbox and "rich fantasy roleplaying" crafting-sandbox then maybe they consider Devil May Cry to be an ambitiously rich roleplaying masterpeice despite not being a crafting-mining sandbox. It's got monsters of varying difficulty, skills you can level up and even throws in things they don't appear to mention at all like a semblance of a sense of place informed by setting and backstory, characters who say things and have a degree of distinctness to their personality beyond their unique clothing and a backpack, and some pretense of motivation explaining why any of the characters might be doing what they're doing where they're doing it. Granted that one can role-play without establishing things like that, but then I find the "rich fantasy" distinction particularly questionable.

Thankfully gameplay is what matters the most, especially for anything remotely resembling an RPG of the type this apparently will attempt to be.

In that case it would probably be a pretty poor way to present your project by showing several minutes of footage that managed to display almost none of the gameplay elements or even broad concepts that would make this interesting and distinct from games like minecraft. Showing an early tech demo is helpful, but if you're going to sell me on the unique or even compelling but familiar gameplay aspects you need to focus on giving more detailed descriptions of what you mean them to be. Instead the trailer consists of many of those selling points followed by clips of gameplay/tech demo footage where those many of those selling points are consistently and conspicuosly not being demonstrated.

If a developer can't demo key features yet and want to convey their importance and place in their game, they have to at least talk about talk about them in less vauge terms as well as explain that realizing those descriptions is the focus of a current or future phase of development.. Then at least we know you understand that the footage you are showing us does not somehow hint at anything resembling "epic adventure" when it shows a lone character running past sheep or convey a sense of "limitless possibilities" when it shows digging through fairly uniform tan dirt.

You guys realise that if they had a finished game to show you with amazing graphics and all the features they want to include, they wouldn't need your funding at that point, right?

You realize that there's a difference between demanding they demonstrate a fully featured game and complaining that they neither demonstrate nor elaborately describe any of the distinct selling points of a game? You do realize that skepticism and uncertainty about what they mean by an " epic adventure … crafting-sandbox … rich fantasy rpg" might be a perfectly reasonable reaction if many the footage and descriptions don't seem to correspond to much of that overall concept? It's not that people are saying that since they haven't demonstrated all this stuff right this minute that they will rule out reconsidering this project rather that reconsidering the project would probably be contingent on explaining and/or demonstrating at least some of those key aspects beyond what they have posted. And yes I wasted a lot of time writing a ramling wall of text that you probably won't and shouldn't waste your time reading; and yes I realize that does mean that pretty much serves no use besides being a self-satisfying rant.

Thought they might be using the Torq 3d engine, but they're using Unity instead. Their previous work in Torq 3d actually looked pretty good, and it sounds like they're not quite finished porting over what they can and intend to re-tool so that explains some things.

Wasn't RealmSource a exclusively middle-ware developer for a while? Maybe that explains the pitch so far - that sounds like a pitch for middle-ware more than a stand alone game. That could just be old habits - used to selling technology on its potential and the possibilities of games it could be part of so they're more used to talking technical capabilities than game-play specifics. Almost might be because they haven't quite worked out everything they're going to have to change/adapt with using a different engine than they used to.

Originally Posted by skavenhorde
I would fund if they had finished their other project first. It's an MMO called Gnostaria.

Oh ok, a lot of those images look pretty familiar. The concept art for the sand-ish castle thing is the base image for the picture on the Gnostaria main page. I guess that makes sense though - the "brief optional story campaign" they list is called "Gnostaria: Golem wars.

They're importing as many of the assets from Gnostaria as are compatible and relevent. That's not nescessarily a point of complaint but after reading some more about it I do think that what they mean by a "rich fantasy rpg" isn't quite what I mean when I say that. The extent of detailed/hand crafted world and quests sounds limited to a small packed capaign. Everything else sounds to be procedurally/dynamically generated; this sort of precludes memorable unique characters and the limits the prospect to play a role beyond skill and equipment choices. Maybe they'll clarify some aspects of the game and intend to include the ability to interact with the world in meaningful character defining ways but I'm skeptical that I'll really care how a randomly generated town responds to my actions if it feels like a random spawn rather than a distinct place. Unless they have created their own world-building tools that work with this game and are not dependent on Unity Pro development tools it seems unlikey that we could even create what I think of as a rich rpg experience. It might still be a fun hybrid between roguelike and minecraft-ike though - but some of the words they choose to describe it sound more like a list of focus-group tested words liked by RPG fans rather than an accurate description of the game.